Toddler Parade
The last two weeks have been our busiest ever! And not only because we have 6 new buddies at the centre, but because 5 of the 6 are junior buddies! The response among parents for flexible care extended to toddlers has been incredible. By the time you have a 3 year old, most families have had to find a daytime childcare solution, even if their needs are occasional. Hire a nanny, friends and family take shifts, until, at last! Preschool!
With toddlers, there are fewer options.
Luckily for us, with creative rearranging, a few mandatory additions, and careful toy reallocation (good work, Jenny!!), Buddings quickly becomes a safe and dynamic environment where younger children have room to grow, and preschoolers can explore the world.
Last week, Jenny and I visited Auklet daycare at UBC, which has been running a mixed age pilot program for over 3 years. Their goal at that time was to create an opportunity for siblings to attend childcare together, as well as attend the same facility from 18 months to school age. The program has been successful, according to Darcelle Cottons, the Childcare Coordinator at UBC. At the outset, she thought that the centre would need to be physically divided, in order to provide “safe zones” for the younger kids, away from rough and tumble of older children, but this turned out not to be the case.
Instead of bowling them over, the older children took responsibility for helping the younger kids, and peer mentoring happened, especially among siblings enrolled together. She told us that the gated areas have almost all been removed, and the remaining gate is used more for “protecting” projects that are still in progress than for separating children.
What a relief!
So, we’ve divided the centre, not with gates, but by moving the hard wooden blocks to the tiled area mat, and the soft toys and shape sorters to the carpeted front room. Both preschoolers and toddlers are welcome to move throughout the space, but the nature of the play depends on the types of toys available. And we’ve been surprised to see how much overlap there’s been. The new “toddler” toys I picked up are everyone’s favourites, and it turns out that magnets are equally… attractive, to both ages. 🙂
